Kawasaki’s Sykes Storms to 4th SBK Superpole at Donington

Four out of five – that’s Kawasaki Racing Team’s Tom Sykes’ record so far for Superpole wins, the Brit’s latest arriving Saturday at Donington Park in the UK.

En route to winning the pole position for Sunday’s World Superbike double header, Sykes also set a new fastest lap at Donington – a 1:27.378.

The Superpole was Sykes’ 15th of his career, and he now equals current MotoGP CRT rider Colin Edwards at sixth for Superpole wins. If he gets one more, he will equal fellow countryman Neil Hodgson.

Joining Sykes on the front row will be the current points leader, Aprilia Racing’s Sylvain Guintoli, and the Frenchman’s teammate Eugene Laverty. As for Guintoli, he equaled to the hundredth of a second the exact lap record set by Sykes last season – a 1:27.716.

Heading up the second row will be Pata Honda World Superbike’s Jonathan Rea, who took a win at Donington last season. Fifth went to FIXI Crescent Suzuki’s Leon Camier, who finished ahead of BMW Motorrad GoldBet S1000RR riders Marco Melandri and Chaz Davies, respectively.

Qualifying eighth was Althea Racing Aprilia’s Davide Giugliano, who was followed by the quickest Ducati rider – Alstare’s Niccolo Canepa. The One Event rider, current Championship leader in the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup, was the only one entry of the Team Ducati Alstare to qualify for Superpole 3, finishing 9th.

Rounding out the top 10 in Donington Superpole was the 2011 World SBK Champion, Carlos Checa aboard the Ducati Alstare 1199 Panigale R.

Local rider Leon Haslam (Pata Honda World Superbike), who was cleared to ride just before Free Practice 1 on Friday morning, qualified 13th.

The riders will be back on the Donington track Sunday for the double header.